International Aikido Federation (International Aikido Federation) is a world governing body for the sport of Aikido.

Structure

The International Aikido Federation was formed in 1976 to serve as a primary global aikido organisation. It is an

umbrella organisation An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and ofte ...

with member organisations from more than 40 nations (for example, the All-Japan Aikido Federation is one member). All members must be recognised by the Hombu, so the IAF exclusively represents the

Aikikai The Aikikai is the original school of Aikido. It is centered on the Aikikai Foundation in Japan, and its figurehead is the Doshu (the family heir of the founder of Aikido). It is represented globally through the International Aikido Federation ...

school. The IAF is a nominally democratic organisation but special roles are given to the Doshu and a council of senior instructors, to safeguard the "technical and moral" integrity of aikido. The IAF currently admits only one member organisation per country and gives each such member equal vote (it was modeled on the UN; it does not necessarily give every Aikikai student equal representation). The IAF demonstrates aikido at the

World Games The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 d ...

, and represents aikido to the globe. The IAF also organises International Aikido Congresses every four years, facilitating direct training between aikido students of different countries, sharing instruction by the world's most senior aikido instructors, and also providing a channel for official communication with the Hombu. The IAF publishes a list of member nations and organisations.

Chairs

* Guy Bonnefond (1974-1984) * Giorgio Veneri (1984-1996) * Peter Goldsbury (1996-2016) Peter Goldsbury is also a

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...

of comparative mythology at

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui ...

and he has published a large body of aikido articles over his many years of practice.AikiWeb
See the Columns section of the AikiWeb Forums. In early 2016, Peter Goldsbury announced his retirement and he officially stepped down following the elections that took place during the 12th IAF Congress held in September 2016 in the city of Takasaki (Gunma Prefecture, Japan). * Kei Izawa (2016-) Kei Izawa previously served as the IAF's General Secretary and he has also the translated in English the biography of Morihei Ueshiba written by his son,

Kisshomaru Ueshiba was a prominent Japanese master of aikido.Pranin, S. A. (''c.'' 2009)Encyclopedia of Aikido: Ueshiba, Kisshomaru Retrieved on March 1, 2010. He was the son of Morihei Ueshiba, founder of aikido, and became the international leader of aikido after ...

Events

International Aikido Federation Congress

Every four years, the IAF holds a Congress in Japan where delegations from all member countries gather for a week of practice under the direction of numerous high ranked instructors, both Japanese and foreign. Along the seminar are held directing committee meetings as well as elections. The last congress took place in the city of Takasaki (Gunma) in September 2016.

Other Events

The IAF was represented at both of

SportAccord Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) is the umbrella organisation for all (Olympic and non-Olympic) international sports federations as well as organisers of multi-sports games and sport-related international association ...

's World Combat Games that took place in China and Russia in 2010 and 2013, respectively.

References

External links

* * * * {{Aikido International sports organizations Aikido organizations Sports organizations established in 1976